Zach's Tech Day

Zach had a big day today for electronics. It started with setting up his printer. It arrived at 9:00 last night from Amazon. He's had a Chromebook for about a year. But, he is using it, and the printer a lot more. We only had the one printer. So, we got him one for his room.

It's an HP all in one. The link is at the bottom. We have the same one for the living room. Officejet 6518. It's wireless. We really like it and he's excited about it. With each year he will have more and more need for this printer. We got him the Chromebook when he needed a separate computer last year. But, we didn't foresee how much he would need to print at home! It's already helpful!

But, that's not the biggest tech we got Zach today. We got him a cell phone! Actually, technically, we got Josh a new cell phone and gave Zach Josh's old phone. Adding a number. Which has a funny story.

After getting the phones we did a lot of modification to make Zach's phone personalized. That meant renaming contacts. So, under his name I sent a large group text saying the following.

"This is Zach. Save me."

I just was trying to make it quick. Sent while walking to Zach's baseball game. To me, it just meant "save this number in your contacts as me" but in shorthand. To some people it meant "HELP! I'm in trouble"!

Umm, my bad.

So, I clarified, once multiple responses included "Zach where are you?" and "Does anyone know where Zach is?"

Here's the clarification:

"I'm fine. I just meant save this #".

Josh's sister left a lol. No further responses after that clarification. But, neither Josh or I had been calling around asking for people to be on the lookout for him. We would be doing that if there was cause for concern.

Our town is a walking town. A lot of people walk to a lot of places. Most of the time, kids get a cell phone as a fourth grade graduation gift. They need to be reachable with all that extra freedom in middle school.

Zach isn't the first kid in his class to get a cell phone. I want him to make the new phone mistakes kids make now when we are around a lot. He needs to figure out how to set Wi-Fi everywhere. He needs to stop forgetting to check for Wi-Fi. He can't forget to almost always have it with him. He needs to keep it charged. He can't forget to answer when mom calls and be careful not to break it. He also needs to remember to check email.

We also gave him an email account now on the phone. I'll forward him the emails he needs to see. It's a good basic email he'll use as he gets older too. As he gets older this will be more and more useful. But, I will be keeping an eye on all messaging and email activity.

We programed in Josh, me, all of the grandparents, and most of the Aunts and Uncles. As well as the number for a friend's mom. We can add to is as needed. But, it's a good thing for him to learn how to use. I've been considering this since getting my own smartphone back in February!

Now, when he does have the middle school level of independence in a little over a year, he'll be ready. This is going to be an interesting experiment. It was fun watching him set the phone up just for him. It was fun watching him choose his phone case too. It's going to be a mix of things during the learning process. But, it's for the best.

Zach's Phone Samsung Galaxy J V3

Zach's Printer

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OY9D604/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1